höfrungur

Icelandic

Etymology

Earliest attested in 16th century. No cognates in related languages, Faroese has already adopted dolfin. Asgeir Blöndal Magnusson estimates correlation with -hafur (Old English hæfer, Latin caper) comparing the leaps of the dolphin to those of the goat. Doubtful. Perhaps simply from haf ("sea") and ungur, that is, Hefring, a Norwegian mountain butting into the sea; and Hefring, daughter of Ægir the sea spirit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhœvruŋkʏr/

Noun

höfrungur m (genitive singular höfrungs, nominative plural höfrungar)

1. dolphin; specifically the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

Declension

declension of höfrungur

m-s1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	höfrungur	höfrungurinn	höfrungar	höfrungarnir
accusative	höfrung	höfrunginn	höfrunga	höfrungana
dative	höfrungi	höfrungnum	höfrungum	höfrungunum
genitive	höfrungs	höfrungsins	höfrunga	höfrunganna

Synonyms

• (Delphinus delphis): léttir

Further reading

• “höfrungur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)